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Abstract:

A mobile computing device, including a main body, a processor and
associated memory housed within the main body, a display screen housed
within the main body and responsive to signals from the processor, an
optical sensor fixed to the main body for capturing successive images and
providing image signals representative of the captured images to the
processor, and a navigation module associated with the processor for
determining, based on the image signals, a relative movement between the
main body and a reference surface and moving a pointer on the display
screen based on the determined relative movement.

Claims:

1. A mobile device, comprising:a display for displaying a pointer;a camera
for capturing successive images and providing image signals
representative of the captured images;a casing having a front face and a
back face, and wherein the display is mounted in the front face and the
camera is mounted in the back face; anda navigation module for receiving
the image signals and determining, based on the image signals, a relative
movement between the casing and a reference surface and moving a pointer
on the display based on the determined relative movement.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the navigation module includes a
module for converting the image signals to lower resolution image signals
and determining the relative movement based on the lower resolution image
signals.

3. The mobile device of claim 2 wherein the camera is configured for
capturing high resolution color image signals and the module for
converting includes converting the high resolution color image signals to
lower resolution grey scale image signals.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the navigation module includes a
module for comparing the successive images captured by the camera at a
predetermined capture rate to determine a relative direction, distance
and speed of movement of the main body relative to the reference surface,
and a module for moving the pointer on the display screen based on the
determined relative direction, distance and speed.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the device further includes an
imaging module for displaying the captured images on the display, the
imaging module and the navigation module being selectively operable to
cause the captured images to be displayed on the display in a camera mode
of the device and the pointer to be moved on-screen based on the captured
images in a navigation mode.

6. The mobile device of claim 5 further comprising a select mode for
selecting between the camera mode and the navigation mode.

7. The mobile device of claim 6 wherein said select mode receives said
captured images and determines, based upon said captured images, whether
said optical sensor is within a threshold distance from the reference
surface, and wherein said select mode includes automatically selecting
between said navigation mode and said camera mode based upon said
determination.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/960,812, filed Dec. 20, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/911,583, filed Aug. 5, 2004, and which
claims priority to United Kingdom patent application serial no. 0318358.9
filed Aug. 5, 2003, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in
their entirety.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

[0002]The present application relates generally to the field of mobile
devices having display screens and, in particular, to mobile devices
having optical sensors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003]Mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants and messaging
enabled communications devices are rapidly growing in popularity. More
features are being incorporated into mobile devices. For example, there
are now messaging enabled mobile phones that have display screens and
built-in-cameras. Such phones allow images taken by the camera to be
displayed on screen, stored on the phone and wirelessly transmitted as
digital photos. The use of an integrated camera as an input interface for
a mobile communications device has been proposed, whereby image
information from the camera is converted to text data which can be used
as a phone number, Internet address, or mail text to support calling,
Internet connection or mail passing.

[0004]Due to the compact size and portability of handheld mobile devices,
the range of input interfaces for on-screen navigation is typically more
limited for such compact devices than for larger devices such as laptop
and desktop computers. Rather than using optical or roller ball mice,
touch pads, or joysticks to move an on-screen pointer or cursor,
navigation control on handheld devices typically relies on a directional
keypad, a stylus, and/or other input devices such as a thumbwheel.

[0005]Thus, there is a need for an alternative input interface for
on-screen navigation in mobile devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006]According to the present invention, an on-board optical sensor on a
mobile device is used to detect relative movement of the device and a
reference surface, and move an on-screen pointer accordingly. In some
embodiments, the optical sensor may also be used as in various modes as a
camera and a scanner.

[0007]According to example aspects of the invention, there is provided a
mobile device, including a main body, a processor and associated memory
housed within the main body, a display screen housed within the main body
and responsive to signals from the processor, an optical sensor fixed to
the main body for capturing successive images and providing image signals
representative of the captured images to the processor, and a navigation
module associated with the processor for determining, based on the image
signals, a relative movement between the main body and a reference
surface and moving a pointer on the display screen based on the
determined relative movement.

[0008]According to other aspects of the invention, there is provided an
on-screen navigation method for a mobile device having a display screen.
The method includes (a) fixing an optical sensor for movement with the
display screen; (b) displaying an on-screen pointer on the display
screen; (c) capturing successive images of a reference surface through
the optical sensor; (d) comparing successive captured images to determine
a relative movement between the optical sensor and the reference surface;
and e) moving the on-screen pointer on the display screen based on the
determined movement.

[0009]According to yet a further aspect of the present application, there
is disclosed a mobile device. The mobile device includes a main body
having a front face and opposing back face; a processor and associated
memory housed within the main body; a display screen mounted in the front
face; an optical sensor mounted in the back face for capturing successive
images and providing image signals representative of the captured images
to the processor; and a navigation module executable by the processor for
converting the image signals into lower resolution image signals and
determining, based on the lower resolution image signals, a relative
movement between the main body and a reference surface and moving a
pointer on the display screen based on the determined relative movement.

[0010]Accordingly to yet another aspect of the present application, there
is disclosed a on-screen navigation method for a mobile computing device
having front face with a display screen and having a back face. The
method includes displaying an on-screen pointer on the display screen;
capturing successive images of a reference surface using an optical
sensor mounted in the back face; converting the successive images into
lower resolution images; comparing successive lower resolution images to
determine a relative movement between the optical sensor and the
reference surface; and moving the on-screen pointer on the display screen
based on the determined movement.

[0011]According to another aspect of the present application, there is
disclosed a mobile device. The device includes display means for
displaying a pointer; camera means for capturing successive images and
providing image signals representative of the captured images; navigation
means for receiving the image signals and determining, based on the image
signals, a relative movement between the main body and a reference
surface and moving a pointer on the display means based on the determined
relative movement; and a casing having a front face and a back face, and
wherein the display means is mounted in the front face and the camera
means is mounted in the back face.

[0012]Other aspects and features of the present invention will become
apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the
following description of specific embodiments of the invention in
conjunction with the accompanying Figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way
of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mobile device to which the
present invention may be applied;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a front view of the mobile device of FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a side view of the mobile device;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a back view of the mobile device;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a partial section view of the mobile device, taken along
lines V-V of FIG. 4;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of operating modules associated with
operating modes of a camera of the mobile device according to embodiments
of the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an optical navigation process
according to embodiments of the invention; and

[0021]FIG. 8 is a front view of a mobile device according to another
example embodiment of the invention.

[0022]Like reference numerals are used throughout the Figures to denote
similar elements and features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023]Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile
device 10 to which the present invention is applied in an example
embodiment. In the example embodiment, the mobile device 10 is a handheld
two-way mobile communication device having at least data and possibly
also voice communication capabilities. In an example embodiment, the
device 10 has the capability to communicate with other computer systems
on the Internet. Depending on the functionality provided by the device
10, in various embodiments the device 10 may be a data communication
device, a multiple-mode communication device configured for both data and
voice communication, a mobile telephone, a PDA (personal digital
assistant) enabled for wireless communication, or a computer system with
a wireless modem, among other things. In various embodiments, the present
invention may also be applied to handheld computing devices, such as PDAs
and digital cameras that are not enabled for communications.

[0024]The device 10 includes a communication subsystem 11, including a
receiver 12, a transmitter 14, and associated components such as one or
more, preferably embedded or internal, antenna elements 16 and 18, and a
processing module such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 20. In some
embodiments, the communication subsystem 11 includes local oscillator(s)
(LO) 13, and in some embodiments the communication subsystem 11 and
microprocessor 38 share an oscillator. As will be apparent to those
skilled in the field of communications, the particular design of the
communication subsystem 11 will be dependent upon the communication
network in which the device is intended to operate.

[0025]Signals received by the antenna 16 through a wireless communication
network 50 are input to the receiver 12, which may perform such common
receiver functions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion,
filtering, channel selection and the like, and in some embodiments,
analog to digital conversion. In a similar manner, signals to be
transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding for example,
by the DSP 20 and input to the transmitter 14 for digital to analog
conversion, frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and
transmission over the network 50 via the antenna 18.

[0026]The device 10 includes a microprocessor 38 that controls the overall
operation of the device 10. The microprocessor 38 interacts with
communications subsystem 11 and also interacts with further device
subsystems such as the display 22, flash memory 24, random access memory
(RAM) 26, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 28, serial port 30,
keyboard or keypad 32, speaker 34, microphone 36, a short-range
communications subsystem 40, and any other device subsystems generally
designated as 42. The device 10 of the present system includes an
integral camera 44 and backlight 46 that interact with microprocessor 38.

[0027]Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 1 perform communication-related
functions, whereas other subsystems may provide "resident" or on-device
functions. Notably, some subsystems, such as keyboard 32 and display 22
for example, may be used for both communication-related functions, such
as entering a text message for transmission over a communication network,
and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list.

[0028]Operating system software 54 and various software applications 58
used by the microprocessor 38 are, in one example embodiment, stored in a
persistent store such as flash memory 24 or similar storage element.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operating system 54,
specific device applications 58, or parts thereof, may be temporarily
loaded into a volatile store such as RAM 26. It is contemplated that
received communication signals may also be stored to RAM 26.

[0029]The microprocessor 38, in addition to its operating system
functions, preferably enables execution of software applications 58 on
the device 10. A predetermined set of software applications 58 which
control basic device operations, including at least data and voice
communication applications for example, will normally be installed on the
device 10 during manufacture. Further applications may also be loaded
onto the device 10 through the network 50, an auxiliary I/O subsystem 28,
serial port 30, short-range communications subsystem 40 or any other
suitable subsystem 42, and installed by a user in the RAM 26 or a
non-volatile store for execution by the microprocessor 38. Such
flexibility in application installation increases the functionality of
the device 10 and may provide enhanced on-device functions,
communication-related functions, or both. For example, secure
communication applications may enable electronic commerce functions and
other such financial transactions to be performed using the device 10.

[0030]In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text
message or web page download will be processed by the communication
subsystem 11 and input to the microprocessor 38, which will preferably
further process the received signal for output to the display 22, or
alternatively to an auxiliary I/O device 28. A user of device 10 may also
compose data items such as email messages for example, using the keyboard
32 in conjunction with the display 22 and possibly an auxiliary I/O
device 28. Such composed items may then be transmitted over a
communication network through the communication subsystem 11.

[0031]The serial port 30 in FIG. 1 would normally be implemented in a
personal digital assistant (PDA)-type communication device for which
synchronization with a user's desktop computer (not shown) may be
desirable, but is an optional device component. Such a port 30 would
enable a user to set preferences through an external device or software
application and would extend the capabilities of the device 10 by
providing for information or software downloads to the device 10 other
than through the network 50.

[0032]A short-range communications subsystem 40 is a further component
that may provide for communication between the device 10 and different
systems or devices, which need not necessarily be similar devices. For
example, the subsystem 40 may include an infrared device and associated
circuits and components or a Bluetooth® communication module to
provide for communication with similarly enabled systems and devices. The
device 10 may be a handheld device.

[0033]Wireless mobile network 50 is, in an example embodiment, a wireless
packet data network, (e.g. Mobitex® or DataTAC®), which provides
radio coverage to mobile devices 10, although it could be any other types
of wireless networks.

[0034]With reference to FIGS. 2-4, in an example embodiment, the
components and subsystems of mobile device 10 are housed within a hard
plastic main body case 70 that is configured to be held with one or two
hands while the device 10 is in use. The case 70 may include a hook (not
shown) so that it can be secured to a user's belt or pant's top, or it
may be used in conjunction with a soft case (not shown) that can be
mounted to the user's belt or pant's top and into which the mobile device
10 can be inserted for carrying. Mobile device 10 will typically be small
enough to fit inside a standard purse or suit jacket pocket. The screen
22 is visible from the front of the device 10, as is keypad or keyboard
32. The keyboard 32 includes buttons or keys 90, 92 positioned to be
actuated by the thumbs or fingers of the user. In the illustrated
embodiment of FIG. 2, the keyboard 32 has relatively few keys, however in
some embodiments, the keyboard 32 includes 26 or more alphanumeric and
control keys. As seen in FIG. 4, the case 70 includes a substantially
planar back wall 72, which has an opening 74 provided therethrough. A
lens 76 covers the opening 74, behind which camera 44 and backlight 46
are located.

[0035]As seen in FIG. 5, in an example embodiment, the camera 44 and
backlight 46 are secured to the back of a printed circuit board 94 that
is mounted within the main body case 70. In an example embodiment, the
printed circuit board 94 also supports at least some of the other
hardware electronic components of the device 10. The camera 44 includes
an optical sensor 78 that faces lens 76 for receiving reflected light 100
therethrough. The backlight 46 is positioned to shine light 98 through
the lens 76 onto a reference surface 96 from which it is reflected back
to optical sensor 78. Although not illustrated in the drawings, as will
be apparent to those persons skilled in the art, the camera 44, lens 76
and backlight 46 may be adapted to the main body 70 by a variety of other
means without narrowing the scope of the invention. In a first
embodiment, the camera is fixed to the main body. In a second embodiment,
the camera 44, lens 76 and backlight 46 may be housed in a secondary
housing (not shown) that is pivotally mounted to the body 70 of the
device 10. In yet another embodiment, the secondary housing may be
removably attached to the body 70 of the device 10.

[0036]Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, at least some of the specialized
software applications 58 that are loaded onto the device 10 will,
together with operating system 54, implement graphical user interfaces
that display text 82 and/or graphics 80 on the screen 22, along with a
pointer 84 or other on-screen indicator that a user can selectively
position on screen 22 to navigate among displayed selectable text and/or
graphic images that represent data or commands. According to embodiments
of the present invention, camera 44 functions, in various modes, as a
user input device for controlling the movement of on-screen pointer 84,
as a camera for capturing still photo or video images, and as a scanner,
among other things. The device 10 includes as one of the specialized
software applications an optical interface engine 60 for processing
signals received by the microprocessor 38 from the camera 44 in the
manner described below. All or parts of the optical interface engine 60
could, in various embodiments, be integrated into the operating system 54
and/or other specialized applications 58. In some embodiments some of the
optical interface engine functions could be implemented in appropriately
configured hardware that may be located within the main body 70 or in the
same housing as the camera 44.

[0037]FIG. 6 represents various modules of the optical interface engine 60
according to example embodiments of the invention, which are associated
with operating modes of the camera 44 when it is active. More
particularly, navigation module 112, digital camera module 114, and
scanner module 116 are associated with an optical navigation mode, a
digital camera mode, and a scanner mode, respectively. In various
embodiments, the camera 44 can be configured to have fewer or greater
than three operating modes. In optical navigation mode, the received
images from the camera 44 are used to control on screen navigation, as
will be explained in greater detail below.

[0038]In digital camera mode, the camera 44 acts as a conventional digital
camera, capturing colour still photo images or digital video images,
which, among other things, can be stored as image files in a memory of
the device 10, viewed on the screen 22, and sent as image files over the
network 50 to a destination address.

[0039]In scanner mode, the camera 44 is used to recognize images
representing alphanumeric data and convert the captured images into
digital alphanumeric data. For example, in one embodiment, scanner mode
has two sub-modes, namely a barcode scanning mode and an optical
character recognition mode. In barcode scanning mode, the camera 44 is
used to read barcode information that is then converted by device 10 to a
numeric or alphanumeric value that can, among other things, be stored in
memory of the device 10, displayed on display 22, and/or transmitted over
the network 50 to a destination address. In optical character recognition
mode, recognized alphanumeric characters in scanned images are, among
other things, stored in memory of the device 10, displayed on display 22,
and/or transmitted over the network 50 to a destination address. Optical
character recognition mode can be used to scan contact information from
business cards to an electronic address book, for example.

[0040]A select mode module 110 implements a select mode process for
selecting among the camera operating modes. In one embodiment, during
select mode process, the user is presented with an on-screen list of the
various modes, from which the user can select a desired choice using
keyboard 32. In other embodiments, the select mode process is configured
to automatically choose between at least two camera modes based on the
images that the camera is currently capturing. For example, when the
captured images indicates that the camera 44 is within a threshold
distance of a surface 96, navigation mode is selected, but when the
camera 44 is further than the threshold distance from a surface 96, the
device 10 automatically switches into a digital camera mode.

[0041]In one example embodiment, to facilitate its use in multiple modes,
the optical sensor 78 is a charge coupled device (CCD) having a
relatively high resolution and being color sensitive. By way of
non-limiting example, the sensor 78 could have a resolution of at least
100,000 pixels, although lower resolution sensors are used in some
embodiments. The camera 44 is capable of capturing successive frames of
image at a predetermined frame per second capture rate.

[0042]With reference to FIG. 5, the operation of camera 44 in navigation
mode according to embodiments of the invention will now be described in
greater detail. In an example embodiment, when the device 10 is in
navigation mode, the user holds the device 10 in one or both hands so
that the back 72 of the device 10 is relatively close to a surface 96. In
one embodiment, the device 10 can be held in one hand, with the other
hand being used as the reference surface 96. As the device 10 is moved,
the navigation module 112 is configured to track, through camera 44, the
movement of the device 10 relative to surface 96 and based on the tracked
movement move the on-screen pointer 84. For example, with reference to
FIG. 2 and the X-Y reference axis 86, movement of the device 10 relative
to the X axis a set distance results in movement of the on-screen pointer
84 in the same direction by a scaled distance. Similarly, movement of the
device 10 relative to the Y axis a set distance results on a movement of
the on-screen pointer 84 in the same direction by a scaled distance. When
the on-screen pointer 84 is positioned at text or graphics (such as an
icon) that the user desires to select, the user presses a control key
such as key 90, for example to indicate a selection. In some embodiments,
the movement of on-screen pointer is in the opposite direction of the
actual movement of the device 10--for example, movement of the device 10
in the negative X direction results in positive X direction of the
on-screen pointer, and so on.

[0043]In an example embodiment, in navigation mode, the backlight 46 is
activated to provide incident lighting 98 onto surface 96 that is
reflected to camera sensor 78. The backlight 46 can be a light emitting
diode (LED) or other lighting device, and be operated in a pulse mode to
conserve battery power. In some embodiments, the navigation module 114 is
configured to pulse the backlight 46 only if the camera 44 senses
insufficient light to otherwise operate properly. As seen in FIG. 5, in
the illustrated embodiment, the lens 76 has a first angled portion 118
configured to direct light 98 from the backlight 46 generally onto the
surface 96, and a convex portion 120 for focussing incoming light 100 on
camera sensor 78. In an example embodiment, the lens 76 is slidably
mounted within tracks 89 formed on the inside of cover back 72 such that
a user can apply force to a small outwardly projecting tab 88 to slide
the lens 76 into the case and out of the line of site of backlight 46 and
camera sensor 78. A proximity switch or sensor 91 (indicated in phantom
on FIG. 4) is connected to the microprocessor 38 to indicate to the
optical interface engine 60 the location of the lens 76. In an example
embodiment, the lens 76 is located in the closed position (as shown in
FIG. 5) when the camera is in navigation mode to improve the focus of the
camera and backlight on the near surface 96. In digital camera mode, the
lens 76 can be opened (slid out of the way) to allow the camera to focus
on further objects. In some embodiments, the backlight 46 may also be
used in camera mode in low light conditions. In one embodiment, select
mode module 110 is configured to toggle between navigation mode and
camera mode depending on the location of lens 76 as detected by proximity
switch 91.

[0044]FIG. 7 shows a block diagram representation of a navigation process
carried out by navigation module 112 according to example embodiments of
the invention. During the navigation process, the camera 44 periodically
captures images of the surface 96 at a predetermined capture rate
(typically measured in frames per second). FIG. 7 represents the
processing of a single image frame. As indicated in step 202, the device
10 is configured to capture an image, and as indicated in step 204, the
image is then filtered using methods known in the art to, among other
things, sharpen contrast and adjust brightness. In navigation mode the
color capacity and full resolution of the camera 44 is not required, thus
to accommodate for the limited processing resources that mobile devices
typically have, in an example embodiment the filtered image is converted
to a sharp contrast black and white or grey scale image, and then reduced
in resolution by, in various embodiments, combining pixels into clusters
and/or discarding selected pixels as indicated in step 206. By way of
non-limiting examples, in various example embodiments, the resolution of
the image is reduced to a relatively low resolution image such as 32 by
32 pixels or 16 by 16 pixels, although other resolutions can also be
used. Such conversion simplifies processing of the images.

[0045]As indicated in step 208, the converted image is then stored in a
navigation image buffer so that it can be compared with preceding and
successive images. As indicted in step 210, the stored converted image is
compared with one or more preceding stored converted images to determine
the relative distance that the device 10 has moved since the preceding
image, and the direction of relative movement. This information is then
translated into relative movement along X and Y coordinates (dX and dY),
as indicated in step 212.

[0046]By way of non-limiting example, a modified Reichardt algorithm can
be used to process the converted, low resolution images to determine dX
and dY. In this algorithm, motion is detected by locating the
zero-crossing edges of images and determining their appearance or
reappearance in sequential images. Common features between two sequential
images are identified to determine the distance between them. This
information is then translated into X and Y coordinates. The speed of
movement is also calculated based on the image capture rate (which is a
known value) and the calculated distance moved between images.

[0047]As indicated in Step 214, the on-screen pointer 84 is moved based on
dX and dY. In one embodiment, the direction that the on-screen pointer 84
is moved corresponds to the calculated direction of movement of the
device 10. In another embodiment, the on-screen pointer 84 is moved in
the opposite direction of the movement of the device 10. The distance the
on-screen pointer 84 is moved is a scaled value of dX and dY, with the
scaling factor depending on the movement distance and speed. Steps
202-214 are repeated continuously while the device 10 is in navigation
mode. Once the pointer 84 is in a desired position, the user uses one or
more predetermined keys 92 and 90 for selection and control functions. In
various embodiments, some of the steps of FIG. 7 are omitted and/or
performed in an order other than as shown.

[0048]Thus, it will be appreciated that the present invention allows an
on-board camera 44 to be used as an on-screen navigation device. In
various embodiments, the camera 44 is located in different locations than
on the back of the device 10, and the device 10 has different
configurations other than the example embodiment described above. For
example, the camera 44 may be located facing outward from the keyboard
32, such that a user can navigate by moving the palm of their hand or
their thumb over the keyboard area. By way of non-limiting example, FIG.
8 shows a front view of a handheld device 100 according to another
embodiment of the invention. Handheld device 100 is similar to device 10,
however the keyboard 32 of handheld device 100 includes a thumb-activated
QWERTY keyboard next to which camera 44 is located, and the main body or
case 102 of the handheld device 100 includes first case portion 104 and
second case portion 106 that are pivotally mounted together. Second case
portion 106 houses display 22, and the first case portion 104 houses the
keyboard 32, which is configured for thumb typing. In handheld device
100, the lens 76 for camera 44 and backlight 46 is provided through
opening 76 on the front of the first case portion 104. The camera 44
faces the same direction as the keyboard 32 for detecting relative motion
of a user's hand or thumb over the keyboard surface of the handheld
device 100.

[0049]In some embodiments, the camera is pivotally mounted to the case of
the handheld device such that it can be rotated to face in a direction
desired by the user for navigation purposes. By way of example, a
pivotally mounted camera 44 and backlight unit 108 are shown by dashed
lines in FIG. 8. The camera 44 and backlight unit 108 may be detachable
from case 102.

[0050]In some embodiments where camera and scanner modes are not required,
a low resolution optical sensor may be used in place of camera 44. In
some embodiments, the lens 76 may be removable such that it can be
replaced with a lens adapted specifically for the mode that the device 10
is operating in--for example a different lens could be used for
navigation mode than for camera mode.

[0051]The above-described embodiments of the present invention are
intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations
may be effected to the particular embodiments by those skilled in the art
without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by
the claims appended hereto.

Patent applications by Alexei Skarine, Waterloo CA

Patent applications by RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED

Patent applications in class Employing position determining equipment

Patent applications in all subclasses Employing position determining equipment